The Appalachian RC&D Council turns 30 in 2024. Roy Settle, the founding Director (then called “Project Coordinator”) until 2011, and current Board Member, provides a retrospective on his career and the ARC&D’s impact and future vision.
Images above: Conservation Camp was held for thousands of elementary students in the 1990s; the Regional Envirothon was organized for high school students to learn about natural resources through outdoor competition.
Looking Back on 30 Years
10-30-2024
Roy Settle
As I write this retrospective, our region is still reeling over the human and material losses of Hurricane Helene. I am reminded of the devastating Roan Mountain flood of 1998. The Appalachian RC&D responded by sponsoring an AmeriCorps Disaster Team. For several weeks these youth worked in the cold winter weather alongside community members who were either elderly or disabled or otherwise had missed out on traditional assistance. I was fortunate enough to get to work with them side by side each Friday. It was the most humbling and rewarding experience I may ever have. When we come together in a disaster it can bring out the best in the human spirit.
In response to this current tragedy, the ARCD has launched the Resilient Farmer Fund. I hope as you are able, you’ll join this endeavor to aid local farm families in their unmet needs.
Meeting unmet needs has been a foundational focus for the Appalachian RC&D Council, identifying and charging ahead to collaboratively solve issues for which we do not have an immediate and apparent fix. In our first year we led a difficult regional effort to eliminate long distance toll charges for inter- and county-to-county calls, fees that were hampering regional development. Also in 1994, working with the TN Department of Environment and Conservation, we launched the first Regional Household Hazardous Waste Collections, and set records for collections. Our regional Envirothon competition for high school student leaders also turned 30 this year, equipping hundreds of future decision maker with how to wisely use our natural resources. You can tell a program is a success when former student participants come back as adult coaches with their own student teams.
Leading and supporting regional partnerships became our strength, through regional planning, greenways, and sustainable development. By 2005, the Quilt Trail attracted national and international attention in broad-reaching media publications. Tourists and bus tours from across the country spent money with restaurants, lodging and local family farms. We saw increased interest among the public and younger generations learning about their legacy and history on the land.
Images above: The AmeriCorps NCCC team in 1998 at Roan Mountain; Charlene Shelton, ARCD Board Chairman unveils the Kingsport Greenbelt bridge a project with ARCD and USDA Forest Service.
The year 2011 brought a dark time: federal funding was cut from all 300+ RC&D Councils across the country. The ARC&D was left without staff or office space or much resources. While many other RC&D Council organizations closed their doors, this was not the end of our story. Our solid board stepped up to volunteer to keep the organization afloat until there were new funding sources and a new strategic plan and direction.
The ARC&D not only survived but staff and board and volunteers charged ahead with programs like Field School Beginning Farmer Training Program, the Build it Up Gardening Program, and supporting food system infrastructure to honor our agriculture roots and look ahead to the future. Several Farmers Markets were fiscally sponsored by the ARC&D to get them on solid footing. Hundreds of aspiring farmers graduated from our programs knowing what it takes to grow a crop from planting to harvest, or an animal from field to market, or a flower from stalk to bouquet. Our former students now farm part- or full- time, and contribute to the Agricultural sector, the largest contributor to Tennessee’s economy.
The organizers of the soon-to-open Appalachian Producers Cooperative in Jonesborough asked the ARCD to help them fund and organize this monumental $10 million regional effort, and we are proud that very close customers will be able to purchase locally raised and processed meats here.
Agriculture is land based and without land we have nothing. Yet farmland in Tennessee is being lost to development at a record setting pace. ARCD recognized this over 20 years ago and forged a partnership with Land Trust for Tennessee and other area land trusts. Since that time we have facilitated with 11 farm owners the permanent protection of over 2,500 acres. Staying in private ownership this land will continue to be farmed and productive, able to be passed down to future generations.
Recognizing this model is not for everyone, we developed the TN FarmLink program, to connect online landowners with beginning farmers who can’t afford land. We recently launched the very successful educational series for women, Women Preserving Farmland, since statistically women will come to own much of the farmland in the United States, yet often are kept out of the decision-making process. Our focus is on the future and how to equip farmers and landowners for wise stewardship and management in today’s reality.
Looking back on 30 years, it’s incredible to reflect on the names of so many friends and colleagues responsible for making the ARCD what it is today. My thanks go to the many, many private and public partners, funders, donors. AmeriCorps members, staff members, Board members, and program participants. Without your support we would not be celebrating this milestone.
We value our partnership and trust that you will walk with us into the next 30 years—and hope you’ll join us November 16th at our Common Ground Open House.
There is much more good work to be done!
Grateful to have been along for the ride.
Roy Settle – Chairman of the Board
Images below: a Quilt Bus Tour at Baskette Farm, Fall Branch; the first conservation easement with the Land Trust for Tennessee at Fortune Farm
